


The Bucky Bear Exhibit

by buckybarnes19



Series: Bucky's Big Adventure [12]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Animals, Post-Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Recovering!Bucky, Zoo, finding nemo - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-01
Updated: 2015-07-01
Packaged: 2018-04-07 03:18:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4247364
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/buckybarnes19/pseuds/buckybarnes19
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bucky, Steve, and Natasha spend a day at the zoo. Steve struggles to deal with letting go.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Bucky Bear Exhibit

"Bucky - Bucky! Don't wander off."

Steve feels like a resigned parent in charge of a hyper six-year-old. Bucky's already run off a couple of times, effortlessly melting into the crowd to linger at an exhibit. 

"At least those spy skills can be used for something good," Natasha says, licking at her melting ice cream cone, chasing the drops before they can drip onto her hand. "Come on, Steve. Unclench. He hasn't been to a zoo in... I dunno, a hundred years. Let him have some fun."

Steve knows she's right but now he feels like a resigned dad and a scolded husband. He sighs. "Yeah, all right. I just - I don't like letting him out of my sight." Seventy years may have passed as easily as falling asleep but Steve feels the weight of that time like a physical burden. Having Bucky back is like a small piece of closure, a lifeline in a stormy sea. He's afraid of losing Bucky again, even for a moment.

"Have you seen Finding Nemo?"

"No?" he says, unsure what a Nemo even is.

"Add that to the top of your movie-watching list," she says, checking her phone. "Hey, you wanna ride a camel? What?" she says, shrugging at the funny look he gives her. "I've never ridden one. Might be fun."

"Steve, there are actual Javan rhinos here. They're critically endangered, we have to check 'em out." Bucky comes up beside him silently, holding a crumpled zoo map in his hand and looking around excitedly, scanning the crowd to determine the best course to his next destination. "And the reptile house," he adds, checking the map for the hundredth time. "The zoo closes at seven though, so shake a leg old man."

"You're older than I am, the geriatric jokes aren't funny coming from you," Steve says as he follows Bucky into the throng. 

"Or does that make them funnier? Huh? Think about it."

Steve cracks a smile and then laughs. Bucky's enthusiasm is infectious and he can't help but smile the next time Bucky consults the map and Steve sees the gift shop circled multiple times.

**Author's Note:**

> Bucky totally loves animals, I'll argue that to the grave :P


End file.
